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Community Matters: Signs

While the community plan lays out the general guidelines for future development in a community, the specific rules and regulations for signs are contained in the Zoning Ordinance. Provisions relating to signs are primarily found in Part 10 of Section 22.52 of the Los Angeles County Code. The Zoning Ordinance regulates such aspects as the height, size, shape, and location of signs. As explained by the U.S. Supreme Court, signs and billboards possess both “communicative and noncommunicative aspects” and, as a consequence, while “the government has legitimate interests in controlling the noncommunicative aspects of the medium, … the First and Fourteenth Amendments foreclose a similar interest in controlling the communicative aspects.” (Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego, 1981) This means that governments can regulate the size, aesthetics, and placement of signs, but that what signs say is protected by the Constitution. To learn more about the LA County Zoning Ordinance Update Program or to read the existing Sign Ordinance, please go to ZOUP.